Envelop.



R. RAWDON.

ENVELOP.

APPLICATION FILED mm". 21. 1906.

- Patented Dec. 8, 1908.

'2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Xx s 6 73%l7% ms NORRIS PETE CHARLES RICHARD RAWDON, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

ENVELOP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 8, 1908.

Application filed June 27, 1906. Serial No. 323,706.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES R. RAWDON, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, in the county of St. Louis City, State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Envelope; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. a

This invention has relation to that class of envelops that are designed to be sealed so that they cannot be opened without detection, and are commonly called safety envelops.

The surreptitious opening of envelops is usually accomplished by steaming or softening the gum by which the envelop is sealed when, if this is accomplished, it becomes a ready matter not only to raise the sealed fiaps so that the contents of the envelop can be abstracted, but also to seal the said flaps down in place so as to make it appear that the envelop has been in no way tampered with. 'When all of the flaps can be sealed so that the gum that effects the sealing is covered by more than one layerv or ply of paper, it becomes almost, if not quite, impossible to separate the sealed surfaces without tearing the paper or destroying at least a part of the envelop, so that it cannot be re-sealed without showing that it has been tampered with. p

The present improvements relate to the kind of envelops just described; and the nature of the improvement is embodied in an envelop in which the top and side fla s have a portion of each doubled upon itsel and a portion tucked through a slit in the bottom flap, portions of the flaps being sealed upon themselves and portions sealed to the bottom flap, all as I will proceed to describe in detail in connection with the annexed drawings, forming a part of this specification,

' and in which;

Figure 1 is the prime blank, fully developed, ready for folding, from which my improved safety envelop is made. Fig. 2 is a somewhat similar view of the back, but showing gum as having been applied to the parts that are to receive the same, and the top and side flaps as partially folded, and the bottom flap as completely folded up. Fig. 3 is a back view showing the sealing of the flaps as completed, except as to the final sealing of the top flap. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view; and Fig. 5 is a transverse section of the same.

Similar numerals of reference designate similar parts or features, as the case may be, wherever they occur.

In the drawings, 10 designates the body of the envelop on the reverse side of which it is intended that the superscription shall be written.

11 is the bottom flap which may be of rectangular form, as shown, and, as herein shown, of a size when folded up to cover the body portion 10. The bottom flap 11 has vertical slits 12 and 13 made in it near its ends, and a longer horizontal slit 14 cut through it near or at its middle. The bottom flap is intended to be folded up on the line 15 and receives no sealing gum directly.

Thetop flap 18 is primarily of the form given it in envelops of common construction and is first gummed on the'back of its margin in the same way. The end flaps 16 and 17 extend out from the body portion 10 and a slope is given to each side of the said end flaps which are gummed on the backs of their margins similar to the top flap. A strip on the top flap and each of the end flaps is doubled upon itself along the line 19, and a strip of the outside surface between the said line 19 and the line 20, upon which another fold is intended to be made, is gummed as indicated at 21. Under this construction, the bottom flap having been folded up, the end flaps will have their extreme ends tucked through the horizontal slots 12 and 13 to the lines 19 and a fold made along the line 20 so that the gummed strip between the last-mentioned lines may be folded down on the folded-up bottom flap, and the gummed surfaces sealed. This will leave the top flap to be sealed, (after the envelop receives the matter that it is to carry), by tucking the extreme top portion through the slit 14: to the line 19 when a fold is made along the line 20, and the gummed strip between the lines 19 and 20 is scaled down on the outer surface of the bottom flap, when the envelop becomes finally sealed. In this way it will be seen that the strips between the lines 19 and 20 of the top and end flaps have their gummed surfaces doubly covered and protected against softening by steam or a similar agent, and the tucked-in parts where gummed are in like manner covered and protected.

It is obvious that slight changes may be made in the form and arrangement of parts, without departing from the nature or spirit of the invention.

What is claimed as the invention, is

An envelop of the class described comprising a blank forming a body having gummed ends, top and bottom flaps, the

latter correspondingly shaped to said body and containing vertical slits near its oppo- .site ends and a horizontal slit centrally thereof, said bottom flap being folded upon the body, the said end flaps being folded upon the bottom flap and having their free outer portions bent inwardly and through the vertical slits and sealed at opposite sides of the bottom flap, and the top flap being folded upon the end and bottom flaps and havin its extreme outer ortion bent inwardly and upwardly througi the horizontal slit and sealed to opposite sides of said bottom flap.

In testimony whereof, I affiX my signature, in presence of two Witnesses.

CHARLIE RICHARD RA WDON.

Witnesses:

A. M. TINSLEY, ALLAN T. \VHE LY. 

